Salvation (The Keepers of Hell Book 2)

by James, Danielle

  He didn’t disappoint. “No, there is something here,” he said. “I can feel it. Something that pertains directly to me.”

  Antonio hid his grin. “Oh, hey, isn’t that,” he said as he pointed in Elizabeth’s direction, “isn’t that your sister’s friend?”

  Ash followed the direction Antonio pointed. “Yeah,” he agreed, “I think so.”

  “Well, let’s go talk to her,” Antonio offered. “Might as well since neither of us knows what we’re looking for.”

  “I don’t think I am supposed to be here to socialize,” Ash said with exasperation.

  “I didn’t say socialize. I said talk. While we are talking, we can be watching for something to happen. Whatever has drawn you here might just make itself known.”

  “I guess,” Ash said. “Let’s get visible.”

  “Hide those wings first,” Antonio reminded him.

  Ash closed his eyes and willed his wings to disappear. Even though no one could see them, he could still feel them. It was pretty awesome. Then, he made himself appear to everyone who wanted to see him. Antonio did the same and they started walking toward the doctor.

  “Oh, hi,” she said as they approached. “What are you guys doing here?”

  “Um,” Ash said. Yeah, real articulate.

  “We were just hanging out, taking a walk,” Antonio offered with a smile. “Mind if we join you?”

  “No, of course not,” she said, scooting over to the end of her bench and making way for the men to sit.

  Ash sat immediately next to her and Antonio squeezed his ass in on the edge of the bench. “Sure is a pretty day,” Antonio mused aloud. Ash rolled his eyes. That angel was seriously gonna talk about the weather?

  “Yes, it is,” Elizabeth agreed as she tossed a cracker to the geese surrounding her. “I like it here.”

  “Me too,” Antonio said. He looked out over the lake and his eyes took on a faraway look. “Hey, I’m gonna go find a bathroom,” he announced suddenly. “Save my seat!” he leapt up and darted off on foot, leaving Ash and Elizabeth alone.

  She turned to face Ash. “So, how are you doing?” she asked. “How’s the chest healing up?”

  “Good as new,” Ash told her with a small smile. “You fixed me up good.”

  Elizabeth nodded. “Glad to hear it. Try not to get shot again, will ya? I’m not in the ER anymore to save you.”

  You will not die, Ash heard in his head again. He shook his head and focused. Dr. Rone was a pretty little thing, he noticed again. The sun was reflecting off her hair, making it shine. He could see that she actually had a hint of red highlights in it. Her eyes were a deep chocolate and framed by thick, black lashes. She didn’t wear any make up that he could see.

  “Hello?” she asked him. Oh shit, she had been talking to him while he was zoning out.

  “Yeah, I’m sorry,” he muttered. Man, he had to get his shit together or else he was going to miss the reason he came to the park in the first place. Didn’t help that he had no idea what he was looking for.

  “Where’d you go?” she giggled. “I thought I was the only one who could live in my own head.”

  “I’m afraid I’m pretty good at it,” he mumbled.

  “I was asking if you had much of a scar,” she reminded him.

  Ash considered raising his shirt to show her, but decided against it. “Hardly a scar at all,” he told her with a grin. “Thank you again for that.”

  Elizabeth nodded. Ash was larger than life; she couldn’t believe she was sitting here talking to him. His dark hair framed his rough face and rich blue eyes stared back at her. God, he was yummy. Wasn’t she just thinking she needed to get laid? She wondered if he would be open to the job. Just the thought of it made her heart jump and her insides tingly.

  She could just crawl right up that hard body of his and have her wicked way with him. Maybe even chain him up and hold him captive for a little while. His shoulders were broad and the t-shirt he wore stretched across his muscular chest, leaving little to the imagination. She wondered if it was as hard as it looked and subconsciously licked her lips.

  ***

  Antonio didn’t really need a bathroom; he just wanted to leave the pair alone for a moment. He had walked around the side of the public restrooms and made himself invisible. He watched as they both ate each other up with their eyes. It was like eye porn. “Come on,” he whispered, “Just one touch. You can do it.” He got closer and hid behind a tree. He didn’t really know why he was hiding since no one could see him, but it just felt right.

  ***

  She had to touch him, just to see. Just once. “Well, I’m glad I could help,” she said with a grin and then gently patted him on the chest.

  Holy cow, she could feel the heat from his body even through his shirt! Her brain took off on its own and she saw little flashes of that handsome face above hers, eyes closed and mouth open in ecstasy. Her insides turned to mush and wetness pooled between her legs.

  She yanked her hand away and looked into his eyes. Eyes that were blazing back at her. Had he felt it too?

  Ash scooted back from Elizabeth. No, he didn’t feel what she felt. He didn’t like being touched. Smart move, she scolded herself. Elizabeth let out a heavy sigh. Then it clicked in her head. He was always with Antonio and never said anything about a girlfriend. Holy crap! He was gay. “Why are all the good ones either married or gay?” she grumbled.

  “I’m sorry, what?” Ash asked her. He didn’t know this woman from Eve, but damn if he didn’t want her to touch him again. And that was all kinds of inappropriate. He was supposed to be working, and where the hell was Antonio?

  “I was just saying that all the good ones are either married or gay,” Elizabeth repeated. “I’m sorry I touched you. I didn’t mean anything by it. Your boyfriend won’t mind will he?” she asked. “Or do you call him your partner? I don’t want to be politically incorrect.”

  Ash scrunched up his eyebrows. “Boyfriend? Partner?” he repeated.

  “Antonio,” she reminded him.

  Death. Slow and painful. That was exactly what the angel could look forward to when he came back. “I am not gay,” Ash said slowly. “And if I was, I would certainly pick someone less irritating than that man.”

  “Oh,” Elizabeth said with a molecule of relief. “Well, I should go,” she said. She stood and Ash stood with her. “Bye now,” she called as she walked away.

  ***

  Antonio was standing behind his tree, watching the pair. He had kept himself invisible so that he could be a voyeur without raising suspicions. When Elizabeth asked about Ash’s scar, he got excited. No doctor could look at his or her own work without touching. But no, that wasn’t what happened. Antonio banged his head on the tree. “Why, oh, why couldn’t you just have a Jacob Black moment and take the damned shirt off?” he growled. This was going to be harder than he originally anticipated. What did he have to do? Tie them together naked in a hugging position?

  As soon as Elizabeth was out of earshot, Antonio stomped over to Ash and grabbed both sides of his face. He got nose to nose with the man. “Are you freaking serious?” he barked. “The lights are on but I don’t think anyone’s home! Or did the hamster die while the wheel was turning?”

  “What are you talking about?” Ash snarled, attempting to yank his face away from the angel. It wasn’t happening though.

  “You, my man, are dumber than a box of rocks. No, dumber than the fucking box the rocks came in!”

  Ash shoved at him and finally got him to let go. “First of all,” he said, “get the fuck back. She already thinks we’re a couple. Second of all, what? I think you got about two brain cells, man, and they are always fighting with each other.”

  Antonio threw his hands in the air. “I don’t think I can do this,” he said. “I gotta get out for a bit.” He flashed away in the blink of an eye, leaving Ash by himself and completely at a loss for what that idiot was ranting about.

  Ash sighed. He had no idea what Antonio
was going on about, nor did he care. Whatever had pulled him to the park in the first place was obviously gone now. He had missed it. Missed it because he was too busy getting a hard on over a pretty doctor touching his shirt. His shirt, for crying out loud! He really needed to focus. Ash vowed no more distractions as he flashed himself back to Hell.

  CHAPTER THIRTEEN

  “You’re sure that is exactly what happened?” Marcus asked the minion.

  “Yesssss,” the minion hissed. “All for love,” the little minion snickered.

  “Well, isn’t that interesting,” Adule grinned. “Our new leader has a weakness after all.”

  “Pfft, more than one,” Marcus said. “I was in there with him for a while. He has no clue what he’s doing here. He doesn’t have the power to read minds, or if he does, he doesn’t know it, because if he heard what I was thinking…”

  “You wouldn’t be standing here,” Adule finished for him.

  “And he gave up a woman,” Marcus said. “Asked to forget her.”

  “I bet he would remember her if we got hold of her,” Adule chimed in.

  “That he would,” Marcus agreed. He scratched his chin in thought. “We should exploit this newfound weakness.”

  Adule grinned.

  “I find the girl?” the minion asked hopefully.

  “Yes,” Marcus told him. “You find the girls. Both of them. Then tell me where I can find them.”

  The minion squealed and scampered off to do its job.

  “What are we gonna do with them?” Adule asked.

  Marcus grinned even wider. “We’re gonna kill them. Then, our Leader will be so overcome with grief that it will be easy to take him down.”

  “But if he asked to forget her,” Adule said, “what makes you think that he is going to care if we kill her?”

  “He will care about the sister,” Marcus told him. “And you know how those angels are….my mate this and my mate that… the most important thing is my mate.”

  “Yeah, but he doesn’t know it,” Adule pointed out.

  Marcus shrugged. “Doesn’t matter. Once he sees her lying there, dead, with her soul in my realm, the pain will be more than he can handle. He might even off himself to save me the trouble.”

  Adule nodded. “Mates are like that.”

  “But,” Marcus added, “I think we should play with them first. Have a little fun at our leader’s expense.”

  A sadistic grin spread across Adule’s face. “I think that may be the best idea you’ve had all year. It’s been too long since I played with a human.”

  CHAPTER FOURTEEN

  Ash woke from a fitful dream drenched in sweat. It had all started out innocently enough; with him standing in a park under the afternoon sun, but things quickly went to hell.

  He had been enjoying the sun on his face when Elizabeth walked by. As what he was beginning to think was the norm, he had an immediate and painful erection. He watched her dance in a white skirt that flowed around like a flower blooming when she twirled. In his dream, she was happy.

  Then dark clouds starting filling the sky. He wanted to yell at Elizabeth to take cover, that a storm was coming, but he couldn’t. He had no voice. He watched in horror as the lightning streaked across the sky and thunder rolled through the clouds. The clouds got thicker and reached all the way from the sky to the ground. They rolled ominously toward Elizabeth, who was still dancing and didn’t see it coming for her.

  Ash started to run. No matter how hard he pushed his legs, Elizabeth got further and further away from him. It was as if the earth was stretching to keep him away from her. “Elizabeth!” he shouted silently. He screamed and screamed for her, but didn’t make a sound. The clouds got thicker and closer to her. “Run!” he was shouting, but she couldn’t hear him. It was as if he didn’t even exist to her.

  Then, the clouds overtook her. Ash ran harder into the clouds, but he couldn’t find her. He found several people, grabbed them and lifted them to his face, but none were her. He couldn’t see two feet in front of his face, but that didn’t stop him from trying.

  Ash felt something cold and hard in his hand and when he lifted it, he saw the huge sword that had come with his black wings. He spread his wings and beat them against the heavy black cloud surrounding him, but the cloud didn’t budge. He held his sword up and swung at the blackness, but got the same nothing. Not nothing….laughter. Maniacal laughter that didn’t belong to anyone he knew.

  Ash jerked upright in his bed. What the fuck was that, he wondered.

  He rolled out of bed and into the bathroom. He was in full-on pee mode when he realized something. He was alone. He hadn’t been alone since before he took this new job leading Hell. Antonio was nowhere to be found. He listened carefully to be sure… yep, nothing. Not a sound. The silence was somewhat eerie.

  He washed up and then went to his mirror. First, he checked on Leanne. She was sleeping soundly in her bed, wrapped around her fiancé. Satisfied that she was fine, he checked in on Elizabeth. He didn’t have any reason to be worried about her, but something about that dream just wouldn’t let him go. He didn’t have any right to be looking in on her, but that didn’t stop him from doing it.

  As the mirror changed, he saw that she was not in bed. Apparently, she was just coming home from her shift at the hospital. She dropped her bag on the living room table and pulled the tie out of her hair. Long, silky waves flowed down her back as she shook her head to loosen it more.

  He watched as she walked down the hall and into her bathroom. He should look away. Now. Did he do that, though? No. Like the voyeur he was, Ash kept watching. She pulled her scrub top over her head and dropped it into the hamper. Her bottoms followed, leaving her in only her panties and bra. In Ash’s head, he saw a glimpse of black panties ripping. He shook his head and turned away as she dropped her underwear and started her shower.

  He should have walked away. He should have taken himself back to bed. Instead, without permission from his brain, his body flashed to her home. Instead of watching the shower doors steam up from his mirror in Hell, Ash was watching it in person.

  He made sure he was invisible while he watched her silhouette rub soap all over herself. She was even singing. He was a sick fuck, but even that knowledge couldn’t make him look away.

  He watched as she turned the water off and barely managed to turn his back when she stepped out and grabbed a towel. She walked out of her bathroom, nearly brushing the side of his arm as she went. Ash cursed himself silently.

  He was just going to make sure she got tucked into bed properly. Once he knew she was safe in her bed, he was going to leave. Really. He was.

  Until she got into bed.

  She dropped her towel, unaware that he was watching her, and lay on top of her covers. Her body was naked and on display for his eyes, and they refused to look away.

  Ash adjusted himself in his pants. Leave, he told himself. When she reached over to her nightstand and retrieved a small, silver bullet, he knew there was nothing on Earth, or in Heaven or Hell that was going to move his ass.

  ***

  Elizabeth had just had too many rough days. Work sucked, life sucked, and really, she just needed some stress relief. Her friend suggested that she “relieve” herself. At the time, Elizabeth had balked at the idea. That wasn’t going to help her. But while she was showering, something changed. She felt like she was being watched, but not in a creepy stalker kind of way. No, it was as if she was watched by a man who wanted her. The idea wasn’t as appalling as she thought it would be. In fact, it turned her on.

  She lay back against the headboard and started rubbing her hands over her breasts. At first, she felt silly, but then a face popped into her head. Ash. Her mind pretended that it was his hands drifting over her skin. Immediately her nipples hardened and her core ached. She palmed her bullet and clicked it on.

  The vibrations tickled her skin as she ran it over first one nipple, then the other. She trailed it down and finally settled it on her clit.


  ***

  Ash was going to lose it. He knew it. The perfect woman was pleasuring herself and he was watching like a horny teenager. He knew it was wrong, he knew he should go, but he couldn’t make himself. He watched as she moved the tiny vibrator over her sensitive flesh and wished at that moment that it were his tongue in its place. He could almost taste her. She moaned aloud and Ash closed his eyes only for a moment. His cock was rock hard and he had to adjust himself yet again. Just the simple brush of his own hand had him wanting to climb on her and ravish her like madman. Since that would most definitely not go over well, he forced himself to stay back. He watched while her back arched and when she climaxed, his own body shook with the need to do the same. No, he told himself. He was already way past the line of what was decent and acceptable. As her body calmed and she snuggled into her pillows, Ash forced himself to leave her. She was obviously healthy and safe, and there were no black clouds threatening to consume her. He had no right to be there. None whatsoever. He took himself back to Hell, where he belonged.

  CHAPTER FIFTEEN

  Ash returned to Hell in a super foul mood. Not only was he tired, but now he was horny too. He knew he could relieve himself if he wanted to, but he didn’t deserve it. Not after the way he just acted. He could suck it up.

  Ash parked himself at his desk and opened his computer. Emails. He had thousands of them. Some were from his sanction leaders, but some were from humans. Apparently, they didn’t get the notice about Lucifer being dead and all, because these were fanatics.

  Satan worshipers.

  And just how in the hell did these humans get his email? Did they look it up in the Yellow Pages? Is it listed under 1800DIALADEMON? What had Lucifer been up to? Ash had no idea but he made a mental note to change his work email.